Las Vegas Aces forward A’ja Wilson has never minced words about her quest for greatness. Being a top talent in today’s WNBA is simply not good enough for Wilson. Elite for the era doesn’t suffice.

As a guest on Podcast P with Paul George, in May 2023, Wilson, when asked by George what she wants her legacy in the sport to be, said that she wants her name to ring synonymous with all of women’s basketball.

“When you’re talking about GOATs of the W, I need my name to be up there. At least top 3. That’s my goal,” Wilson told George. “When you’re thinking of women’s basketball, when you’re thinking of the W, I want my name to be on there. Whatever it takes. Whatever it needs to get there – whether it’s the rings, whether it’s the accolades individually – I want to be up there in that category.”

It’s a statement few players can make who have the talent and circumstances to reach the goal. That’s why the players that do are so often a select few. They’re former players such as Sheryl Swoopes and Candace Parker, Maya Moore and Cynthia Cooper.

Since entering the league as the No. 1 overall pick in 2018, has steadily chipped away at a position on the WNBA’s Mt. Rushmore, beginning with a Rookie of the Year award and an All-Star nod. In 2020, she won her first MVP and her first gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. In 2022, she added another MVP, a Defensive Player of the Year honor and her first WNBA championship with Las Vegas. Wilson added a second consecutive title with another Defensive Player of the Year award in 2023.

In her seven-year career, Wilson has gone from inching toward basketball immortality to leaping. It’s to the point that Wilson may achieve her Goliathan goal before she turns 30.

In 2024, Wilson became the league’s first 1,000-point scorer, set the record for the most points and rebounds totaled in a single season, set a new points per game record – breaking the previous mark which stood for 18 years and became the first player to average 25-plus points and 10-plus rebounds in a season. That doesn’t include the second Olympic gold she earned in Paris, where she was named MVP of the tournament.

On Sunday, Wilson became the second player in WNBA history to be voted a unanimous MVP – a feat that hasn’t been accomplished since 2006.

“I know how hard this league is to just be successful in, to sustain your greatness in a league like this is hard,” Wilson said Sunday after receiving her MVP trophy. “My first was kind of like, ‘Ok, I’ve kind of got my name in the record books, the history books for this league.’ To now, I feel like I’ve fully established myself in the league I’ve dreamt of playing in.”

When Atlanta Dream guard Allisha Gray first saw Wilson play as a freshman at South Carolina, she knew Wilson played at a different level. Gray had first met Wilson as her recruiting host at the University of North Carolina when Wilson was the No. 1 recruit in the class of 2014. The two quickly bonded after a humorous experience on a local carnival ride during Wilson’s stay.

“It was one of them UFO things that just spins and you’re stuck to the wall,” Gray said. “That ride messed us up, boy.”

That moment led to the two becoming closer and they are now best friends. Gray, who later transferred to South Carolina and won a national championship alongside Wilson, texted her friend when she heard the news.

“I know her phone is blowing up,” Gray said before the Dream’s first-round playoff game Sunday against the New York Liberty. “As a best friend I’m just really proud of her. I always believed in her and knew she could do it, it’s just a matter of whether she believes in herself – which she does.

“She’s the best player in the world.”

This season, Wilson became the first player to lead the league in total points, rebounds and blocks in a single season. It was a dominant performance that spanned across the league. According to ESPN Stats & Information, Wilson averaged 25 points and 10 rebounds against six opponents this year. Before this season, no player in WNBA history had averaged the same marks against more than two different opponents in a single season.

Over the course of the year, Wilson’s chase for greatness was measured by the other greats she was either equaling or surpassing.

The single-season points per game record was originally set by Phoenix Mercury guard Diana Taurasi. Wilson and Parker are the only players to post at least 25-plus points, 15-plus rebounds, 5-plus assists and 5-plus blocks in a game, which Wilson did against Atlanta on Aug. 30. Wilson’s single-season rebound record surpassed the record set by Sylvia Fowles (Chicago Sky rookie Angel Reese also surpassed Fowles’ record this season). Wilson became the second player in WNBA history after Yolanda Griffith (1999) to finish Top 5 in the league in points, rebounds, blocks and steals per game. Wilson scored 40 points twice this season, giving her four 40-point games for her career which tied Taurasi and Breanna Stewart for the most in WNBA history. With her third MVP honor, she joins Lauren Jackson, Lisa Leslie and Swoopes as the only players to accomplish the feat.

“When you have players of this caliber that are playing now, appreciate that. One day she’s not going to be here,” Las Vegas Aces guard Alysha Clark said on Sept. 11. “She’s going to retire and go on and live her life and people are going to marvel at what she’s done. Marvel at it now. It’s impressive as hell.”

Wilson has matched that energy off the court as well.

In February, her first book, Dear Black Girls: How to Be True to You, was published and became a New York Times bestseller. In April, she was named one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people. In May, Nike announced that Wilson was getting her own signature shoe, making her the first Black WNBA player to have a signature shoe since Parker (2010) and the first Black woman since Swoopes in 2002 to have a signature basketball shoe with Nike. In July, 2K Sports announced that Wilson would be on the NBA 2K25 All-Star and WNBA editions of its popular video game.

For Gray, seeing Wilson receive the recognition is long overdue. Though Wilson’s performance and résumé may have warranted the amount of attention she’s currently receiving, Gray said Wilson never complained earlier in her career.

“A’ja, she is a very humble person. What’s for her is for her. We know what she deserves but she’s not gonna cry and complain about it – she just shows the work,” Gray said. “She’s not conceited, not cocky, what’s for her is for her and that’s why she’s always blessed. She always does things the right way.”

A year ago, Wilson finished third in one of the closest MVP races the league has ever seen. In the voters’ final tally, it was revealed that Wilson had received a fourth-place vote, which could have impacted her place in the race. Wilson said she “harped” on the vote in the beginning. During the Aces’ 2023 championship parade Wilson, the reigning Finals MVP, wore a T-shirt that referred to the fourth-place vote she received and thanked the voter during a speech. She said in February, however, that she chose to let the situation go.

“I kind of had a eureka moment where I’m just like, ‘you know what, get out my feelings. Put in the work, A’ja. Make people leave no doubt about who you are and who you want to be in this league,’ ” Wilson said. “I think that kind of was the turning point for me.”

Wilson ended her answer by stating that she doesn’t really want to talk about the fourth-place vote anymore. She pointed at the silver MVP statue that sat beside her at the podium, tapping the base several times as she closed.

“Because we are unanimous.”